David In Carge
by SPBCx0xo
Summary: With Snow stuck in bed with a stomach virus it's up to David to keep the house running. Between breakfast, boyfriends and everything in between will David make it through the day. Slightly AU, withe Emma being a teenager. But the father/daughter fluff is there.
1. Chapter 1

The first thing sixteen year old Emma Swan noticed upon waking was that she was in her own bed in Mary Margaret, no her mother's, apartment. And even having been home for a few weeks after the ordeal in the Enchanted Forest with her mother Emma still sighed in relief once discovering she was home.

The second thing Emma noticed was the retching sound coming from the bathroom. Curious, Emma got out of bed and walked to the bathroom door. She had finally made it and was about to push the door open when her father stepped out of the bathroom.

"David?" Emma questioned, "Is everything alright? Are you alright? I heard someone being sick."

"Everything's fine, kid. Your mother seems to have picked up a stomach virus. That was her you heard." Noticing the panic on his daughter's face David was quick to continue, "But there's no need for you to worry. She just needs to rest and she'll be good as new. I promise."

Deciding that her father was telling the truth Emma nodded and then offered, "Maybe she should stay in my room while she's resting. It is closer to the bathroom, so it will be easier for her if she needs to lose her lunch or something."

David was about to respond when the two of them heard a fresh round of sick starting up from behind the bathroom door.

"That would probably be for the best. I'll get your mom, uh Snow, settled and then I'll come down and make you something for breakfast." David cringed when he slipped in referring to Snow as mom to Emma. They had made such progress in becoming a family, but they still needed to take baby steps and to let Emma set the pace. It would do no good to push the girl more than she was willing to go, it would only result in setbacks.

Emma had noticed David trying to cover his slip up, but in all honesty, she didn't mind. Truthfully, she had been referring to them as mom and dad in her head ever since she set foot in her nursery in the enchanted forest. Seeing everything they gave up for her had really hit home, and she was able to forgive them. However, she wasn't there verbally. There were still some walls that had to be taken care of, but she was working on it.

Deflecting from what could become an uncomfortable silence Emma spoke to her father, "You make breakfast? I don't know if that's such a good idea. The only person in this family who can cook is currently sick."

Smiling at Emma's ability to overlook his slip up and her reference to their family David defended himself, "Hey, I may not be able to make pancakes like Snow, or waffles like her, or anything hot for that matter, but I can pour a mean bowl of cereal. So go on downstairs, I'll be down in a few minutes."

Nodding, Emma continued on past the closed bathroom door on her way downstairs letting out a "feel better Snow," as she did. All she received was a groan of appreciation in return.

Once Emma was downstairs David walked back into the bathroom to comfort his wife. The sight of her looking so miserable hunched over the toilet tugged at his heart. He walked over and started rubbing her back, "Feeling any better?"

Snow looked at him through tear filled eyes, "A bit, not much. How's Emma?"

David smiled at his wife's ability to put their daughter first, no matter what her own predicament might be.

"She's fine. She's offered up her bed to you so that you can be closer to the bathroom. I thought it was a good idea and it made her happy to be helpful so I agreed on your behalf."

Snow smiled upon hearing Emma's offer. It was the little moments like that which got her through some of the tougher points of trying to bond with her young hurt teenage daughter. Sure, Emma may have wanted to find her parents her whole life. And sure, Pinocchio may have prepared her for everything the curse was about her whole life. But that doesn't take away the pain of being parentless your whole life. The pain of being alone. But moments like this, where Emma's concern for her parents shone through, was what made the patience all worth it to Snow.

"But where will she sleep?" Snow half heartedly objected.

"She'll take our room and I'll take the couch until you're feeling better."

"How charming of you," Snow smiled up at her husband. "Just make sure to wash the sheets and the bedding before she gets in. I've been laying in them all night and my germs must be everywhere. I would hate for her, or you, to get sick."

"Anything for you, my queen."

After getting Snow settled in Emma's bed David headed downstairs to have breakfast with his daughter. After pouring two bowls of cereal David handed one to Emma and they both settled down.

"Any plans for today?"

Emma looked up at her father's question. "I'm supposed to go out with a few friends in a little bit," Emma half lied. Technically Andrew was her friend. It just wasn't more than one friend. And technically it was more of a date than simply hanging out. But still, her father didn't need to know that. And neither did her mother for that matter. Emma shuddered to think what would happen if her overbearing, overprotective parents found out that their not so little girl had a date.

David eyed his daughter suspiciously; it was a school day, which was still a sore subject in the apartment. Snow wanted her daughter to go back to high school and to finish up like all of the other kids in town. Emma, however, argued that she already had her GED. That was the first thing she got after she had herself emancipated and dropped out of high school. It had been one of August's conditions of them starting their quest for Storybrooke two years early.

"Don't all of your friends have school today Emma?"

Emma rolled her eyes at her father, "Oh no, don't you start with me too. I've told Snow, and you, a million times. I have my GED already. Plus, what good is American history going to serve me when we find our way home?"

"What if we can't get home, Emma? And even if we could find a way, you were there; you saw what it was like after the curse. "

"Even if we can't get back, it's not like we can leave Storybrooke. There's no college in town, so it's not like a diploma will matter much in the future."

David sighed, knowing that this was one argument Snow and he weren't going to win because, well frankly, Emma had a point. The outside world and Storybrooke couldn't and wouldn't ever merge. The only thing they could do as a town would be to create a sense of order and to help one another survive and exist.

"I'm not looking to argue with you about school, Emma. I'm just trying to figure out what you're not telling me about your plans for today."

Emma groaned, "Fine, fine. I kinda have a date or something today with this guy from the mechanics shop."

David felt like his heart was going to pump out of his chest, his little girl had a date. Not only that, but his little girl was going to sneak off to spend her date with a boy.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea, Emma. I'd like to meet this punk before you go spending an entire day with him."

"He's not a puck David. He's a nice guy. Why can't you just trust me?"

"Oh, I trust you perfectly fine. It's the punk I don't trust."

"He's not a punk, he's a nice guy."

"Tomato, tomato" David quipped.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"That'll be Andrew," Emma said quickly, depositing her bowl in the sink, "gotta go."

Emma was almost to the door when her father beat her to it.

David swung the door open to reveal a teenage boy. Trying to keep his paternal instincts in check, David welcomed the boy in and closed the door.

David stared the boy down, clearly not liking the fact that his little girl lied to him about hanging out with friends so she could hang out with a boy, a boy whom she didn't even want to introduce her father to.

"Aren't you going to introduce us, Emma?" David questioned, not taking his eyes off of the little punk who thought he was good enough to date his daughter.

Emma groaned, this was not how today was supposed to go.

"David this is Andrew, Andrew this is David, my father." Emma made hasty introductions and then tried to pull Andrew out the door with her, but David wasn't having any of it.

"Hold on a second there princess, I just want to chat a bit with Andrew here." Turing his gaze from Emma back to Andrew, David continued, "She is a princess you know. That makes me the king. And if anything happens to the princess while you two are 'hanging out' the king's men will know who to look for. Am I clear?"

Andrew, to his credit, looked a bit nervous as he stammered out, "Y-yes sir. I understand."

David, still not pleased, but a bit more relaxed turned to Emma. "You may go 'hang out' with your 'friends' now, Emma. And since you're going to be out all day you won't mind being home for dinner. It will be served at 6."

"Don't you think six is a bit early? Before the curse Mary Margaret didn't really give me a curfew. She just let me—"

"Don't push it princess," David emphasized the title again, "You'll be home for dinner at 6."

"God, you're being such a dad!" Emma screamed before hurling Andrew out the door following.

Still tense David started when he heard a noise from behind him. Seeing it was only his wife David calmed down a bit and went over to her.

"Everything alright," Snow started, "I heard voices. You didn't sound particularly pleased."

"Our little Princess tried to sneak out on a date. Lucky for me the little punk came up to get her and I had a chance to lay down some rules." David admitted, hoping his wife wouldn't be upset with him for being overprotective of their daughter considering the space they both agreed to give her. His wife surprised him, however.

"She's on a what?! How could you let her go out with a boy, David? Do I even know him? Who is he? She's too young for this nonsense!"

"Snow, calm down. I handled it. The punk knows what will happen if anything happens to our princess." David calmed his wife, but inside he was thinking 'it's a good thing for Emma that Snow was sick, or snow would have her locked up in her room swaddled in blankets for the rest of eternity.'

"But she's out baby, David." Snow pouted.

David smiled and pressed a kiss to his wife's forehead, frowning when he still detected a temperature.

"I know, Snow. But unfortunately for us, she's not a baby anymore. And we agreed to give her space. And not allowing her to leave the house is not giving her space. Now she'll be back by six and when you're feeling better you can interrogate her all you'd like. But for now let's get some medication into you and let's get you back to bed.

Emma stormed into Granny's diner, alone. Her date hadn't gone very well. Her father was right, he was a punk. But she'd never admit that to her father. Which is how she wound up at Granny's at one in the afternoon with nothing to do for five hours. Because there was no way in hell that Emma would give her father the satisfaction of going home early and proving him right.

Looking around Emma saw the person she was looking for. Red was sitting at the counter, so Emma went to join her mother's best friend.

Upon sensing another presence with her, Red looked up from the papers she was reading and saw Emma.

"Hey girly, what's up?" Red asked.

"Why do guys suck?" Emma blurted out.

"I uh, what?" Red asked, not prepared for this.

Emma chuckled, "Sorry Red. It's just that you're my m-Snow's best friend. And if things hadn't happened like they did I probably would have grown up with you too. You'd have been like the cool aunt I never had. And my, uh Snow is sick so I can't talk to her right now. So I've come to you." Emma finished, blushing slightly.

Red smiled affectionately at the little girl she adored. "Alright girly, lay it on me. What's the boy trouble?"

Smiling, Emma continued, "I had a date with that guy Andrew from the garage today. But it seems like he only had one thing in mind. And that thing is the furthest thing from my mind at the moment. So I slapped him and left and came here."

"Did he hurt you?" Red demanded.

"NO! No, he was just a little forward and I didn't appreciate that. So I left."

"Good. It's good that you respect yourself enough to have a limit and to enforce it Emma. As for guys sucking, it does seem like that, doesn't it. But it's not all of them. Today it was Andrew, tomorrow it might be a Billy, or a Matt, or a Connor. But eventually you will find the right guy, and all the sucky ones won't matter."

Emma smiled up at Red, "Thanks that did help a bit."

"Anytime. So, why don't you get a slice of chocolate cake to go, go home and watch a movie today?" Red suggested.

"And give David the satisfaction of being right about Andrew, I don't think so. I have to kill some time until six."

Red laughed, "David told you to be home from your date by six! Good luck in the future girly, that is one protective papa."

"Tell me about it."

Suddenly a cloth came flying at her. Emma looked up at Red who smirked, "What's this for?"

"You need some time to kill for five hours and I need some help. So consider yourself hired."

Emma looked confused, "Huh?"

Red explained, "You need some time to kill during the days while your parents are working, and as Granny expects me to help her run this place and Snow and James expect me to help find a way back to the enchanted forest I'm going to need another waitress to cover some shifts. So what do you say? Nine to four Monday through Friday sound good to you?"

Emma looked up at her could-have-been-an-aunt and smiled, "Works for me. Thanks Red."

"You got it girly, anytime."

Emma walked into the apartment a little before six with a bag from Granny's in her hand to find her father hard at work, cooking. Shocked, but not wanting to hurt her father's feelings Emma was quick to hide the bag of food in the fridge before her father saw her.

Finally, David did see his daughter standing there.

"Hey, how was your date," he spat out at the last word.

"It sucked, there won't be a second one."

Despite the glee David felt at the fact that there would be no second date he said, "I'm sorry it didn't work out. Is there anything I can do?"

Emma smiled, and mustering up all her courage she said, "A hug wouldn't go amiss."

David smiled and opened his arms for his little girl, who stepped into them quickly and held on tight.

"You were right, he was a punk," She laughed.

"I could kill him for you." David offered, and Emma wasn't sure if he was serious or not.

"Thanks dad, but I think we'll let the peasant boy live this time."

David thought he had heard wrong, but upon looking down at Emma he saw her smiling and he knew she had done it. She'd finally called him dad.

"Oh princess, thank you."

Father and daughter stood together for a few minutes before David instructed Emma to go make him and Snow's bed before dinner.

Pulling the sheets out of the drier Emma started giggling. David heard this and walked over.

"What's so funny, kid?"

Holding up the now pink sheets Emma managed to get out, "Oh daddy, mama's going to kill you."


	2. Chapter 2

David in Charge- Chapter 2

David sighed, looking at the newly pink sheets. Emma was correct in assuming Snow wouldn't be pleased with him. But hopefully he would be able to replace them with new sheets before Snow would notice. Turning around to check on dinner David saw his wife standing at the bottom of the stairs.

Snow stood at the bottom of the stairs, her hand at her chest and tears in her eyes, making it clear to him that she had been standing there long enough to have heard their daughter's declaration regarding the sheets. And while David was glad that his wife was able to witness that precious moment he also realized that there would be no bed sheet cover-up on his part.

Quickly pulling herself together before Emma noticed how emotional she had gotten Snow spoke up, "And what has your father done this time?"

Startled by her mother's sudden appearance, Emma turned around, giving her mother the opportunity to see the pink sheets.

Quickly trying to skirt away from the topic of his laundry mishap David changed the topic, "What are you doing out of bed? You're sick, you should be resting."

"Don't try to change the subject, Charming. What have you done to my bed sheets?" Snow asked, walking over to the duo by the laundry machine.

"Well, you did say to wash them before Emma went to bed tonight."

"I told you to wash them, not dye them." Snow chided lightly, but not really upset.

David looked sheepish, scratching the back of his neck with his hand, and started to defend himself when Emma came to his rescue.

"Don't be too upset mom; at least he didn't shrink them too. I can still use them tonight and then we can replace them tomorrow."

Snow's hand went to her chest again and tears welled up. Trying not to make a big deal of this new development Snow kept with the current topic, "You're right, Emma. They're just sheets."

David looked between his wife and daughter when he saw his daughter wink at him. So, the little madam had played her mother to get him out of trouble. Smiling to himself David couldn't help but feel his heart swell with pride and affection for his little daddy's girl.

Emma handed the sheets off to her father and started walking to the kitchen to set the table when she was stopped by her mother, who pulled her into a tight hug.

Snow couldn't stop herself from embracing her child. She had seen the wink Emma sent David, and knew she had been played. But she couldn't bring herself to care. Her daughter had called her mom, not to mention the mama that she overheard before. It seemed as if all their patience was starting to pay off.

Emma allowed her mother to hug her for a moment, and she even brought her hands up to hug her back. In all honesty, the hug was nice but Emma couldn't stop the sarcastic quip that escaped, "I thought we were trying to not get me sick. You know, hence the pink sheets."

Emma smiled at her mother when they parted so as to communicate to the woman that she hadn't minded the affectionate gesture.

Snow smiled at her daughter, enjoying the moment before a loud piercing sound interrupted them.

Turning to find the source of the noise, mother and daughter couldn't stop the laughter from coming. The mishap with the sheets had distracted David from dinner long enough to have burnt whatever it was he was trying to make. And upon opening the oven door a bunch of smoke escaped into the room, setting of the smoke detector. And now David was trying to clear the air with a dish towel while simultaneously trying to climb up and reset the smoke detector.

Grumbling at being mocked and frustrated with his ruined dinner, David spoke to his wife, "That's it. You're not allowed to be sick. Ever again, I'm not cut out for this Mr. Mom stuff. I'm much better with a sword than a pan!"

Still giggling slightly Snow looked at the now ruined meal and offered, "I'm sure it would have been wonderful if you had remembered to take it out of the over on time, David. But I don't know how I feel about you and Emma actually eating that. Why don't I make something quick for the two of you?"

Emma interrupted before David could protest, "Don't worry about dinner, mom. You're sick and dad was right before, you really should be resting. And I had to foresight to bring home take-out from Granny's. So we won't starve."

Smiling upon being referred to once again as 'mom' Snow nodded. "Alright then. I think I will go back to bed." Snow grabbed her daughter's hand and gave it a quick squeeze before smiling at her husband and retiring to the upstairs bedroom.

Emma went to the refrigerator and pulled out the food she had hidden from her father before.

David smiled at his daughter, "I see someone has no faith in dear old dad."

"I told you this morning, the only one here that can cook is laid up at the moment. And I'd really rather not go hungry," Emma joked with her father.

"Well, I'm glad one of us had enough sense to have a back-up plan. Let's eat."

Sitting down for dinner father and daughter fell into an easy conversation.

"So, your date didn't go well. What did you do with the rest of your afternoon?" David asked, curious as to what Emma had been doing all day.

"I got a job," Emma smiled, proud of herself.

"That's great kiddo! I'm proud of you. Where? Doing what?" David asked.

"Well technically I didn't get the job; Red kind of just gave it to me. I think she felt bad for me. But that's neither here nor there. I'm Red's new waitress at the diner. Nine to four Mondays through Fridays." Emma admitted.

"It's still awesome, your first job. And it will give you something to occupy your time with. Something that isn't boys." David added the last part, smiling inside.

"Don't worry; I'm done with boys for a little while. I'm going to focus on me first."

"Your date was that bad?" David asked, not really sure if he was ready for this conversation.

"Oh, the date wasn't that bad. It didn't really last long enough to get that bad. But I'm not going to talk to you about that. But with everything that has changed recently and all the adjustments that have been made we haven't really had time to be a family. So, I figured I'd give us a shot before I start worrying about boys. I mean, I'll have my whole life to find my true love and to have a family. But I'm only going to be a kid for so long. And I'd rather spend my time as a kid with you and mom." Emma admitted sheepishly, blushing a bit at the end.

David smiled at his daughter, his chest bursting with happiness. Their little girl wants to be a family, she wants them.

"I think that's a great idea. Your mother and I love you very much, and we want nothing more than to get to know you."

Feeling a bit uncomfortable with how sappy this conversation was getting Emma responded, "Eh, admit it. You're just relieved that I'm not planning on dating anytime soon."

David laughed, "You caught me."

After dinner father and daughter cleaned up and settled down for a few card games before Emma decided to start getting ready for bed.

Saying goodnight to her father, Emma headed upstairs to retrieve some pajamas. Opening her bedroom door Emma saw her mother sleeping peacefully. She grabbed her clothing and went into the bathroom to change. Once she was done with her nighttime routine Emma returned to her room to put her dirty clothes in her hamper. Turning around Emma saw that her mother was now awake.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up."

"No it's alright; I've been sleeping all day. Are you getting ready for bed?"

Emma walked over to her bed and crawled in next to her mother.

"Yup."

Snow waited for her daughter to continue, but it seemed like Emma wasn't going to be the one to start up a conversation.

"I thought you were going to sleep in my room tonight. You know, so you don't get sick." Snow stated.

Emma nodded, "Yeah, I'll go down in a minute. I just missed you I suppose. I haven't seen you _all_ day."

Snow smiled, feeling another surge of affection for her daughter. "I've missed you too. How was your day?"

Emma shrugged, "Not bad. I had breakfast with dad, had a pretty bad date, and got a job."

"A date, with whom?" Snow prodded, trying to get information.

"This guy Andrew from the garage. He was very clear with what his intentions were. And I was very clear that I didn't share those intentions. So I left early and went to Granny's."

Snow frowned, "Why didn't you come home."

Emma smiled and giggled for a moment. Turning further into her mother's warmth she responded, "I was too proud. Dad had embarrassed me before I left and I couldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing he was right."

Snow smirked upon hearing that. "Your father loves you, he would never be happy to hear that you had a bad time."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. Sure, I know he loves me and wants me to be happy. But you should have seen his face when I told him the date didn't go well and that I was done with dating for a while. He looked like a kid on Christmas morning."

Snow giggled imagining her husband's face. "Wow, I'm impressed. You talking to your father about dating."

Emma snorted, "Haha, no. All he knows is that I didn't enjoy the date. He doesn't know the specifics, and he doesn't need to. I waited for you to talk about the specifics."

Snow pulled her daughter closer and placed a kiss on her temple. "Well, I'm honored to be the person you can come to about this. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really. It didn't really last long enough to warrant talking about."

"Well I am very proud of you. You know what you want and what you don't want. And you're comfortable enough with yourself to set limits and to enforce those limits when someone pressures you to do otherwise."

Emma blushed with the praise, "thanks."

"I mean it. No one has the right to make you do anything you feel uncomfortable doing. And if anyone does try, you tell me and I'll take care of them."

"Well, luckily for all the boys around town I'm not going to focus on dating anytime soon. So you and dad don't have to go all mama and papa bear on them. Like I told dad, I want to focus on being a family while I'm still young enough to enjoy it."

Snow and Emma continued talking for a while before both women started drifting off. And that was how David found them when he went to check on his wife. He was surprised to find the two of them sleeping up here. He went to his wife's side of the bed first.

He kissed her head and felt that she still had a slight temperature. He continued to tuck her in better before going over to Emma's side. He put his arms under his daughter, preparing to lift her from her mother's embrace to take her downstairs.

Emma half woke up from being transferred to her father's arms.

"Dad, what?" She asked, disoriented from being woken up.

"Shh, go back to bed. I'm just going to take you downstairs so you don't get sick. Although, at this point it's probably too late."

Emma nodded and put her head back on her father's shoulder. Before drifting back off she managed to say one thing. "I know earlier you said this Mr. Mom thing isn't for you. But I think you've done a pretty good job today. So thanks, dad."

Smiling, David placed a kiss to his daughter's head before tucking her in for the night.

"Goodnight princess."


	3. Chapter 3

David in Charge- Chapter 3

Emma woke up the next morning with a pounding headache. She tried to sit up to get out of bed, but was forced to lie back down for a minute when the dizziness started. Rolling her eyes, Emma thought to herself, 'Wonderful, I'm going to have to call in sick for my first day of my first job.'

When she was finally able to stand up Emma looked into the mirror in her parents' room. Deciding that she didn't look nearly half as bad as she felt Emma figured she could act fine through breakfast and make it to work without her father catching on.

Walking into the main living area the first thing Emma noticed was her father making eggs for breakfast. The second thing she noticed was that nothing was on fire. The third thing she noticed was the smell of breakfast. Emma instantly placed her hand in front of her mouth and raced for the bathroom.

David had heard his daughter moving around in the bedroom and looked up when he heard her come out from behind the curtain. He started to smile and say good morning when Emma took off up the stairs. Concerned, he turned the burner on the stove off and followed his daughter to the bathroom.

David started to knock to see if everything was alright, but the sounds coming from behind the door made him barge right in. It was then that he saw his daughter, hunched over the toilet; much like her mother had been the morning prior.

"Not feeling well I take it."

Emma glared up at her father from her place on the floor, "Not particularly, no."

"Anything I can do to help?"

"Just don't cook anything else, the smell made me nauseous."

"Noted. Anything else?"

Emma was about to respond when Snow entered the bathroom, the commotion having woken her from her own healing slumber.

"What's going on?" She started, but upon seeing her daughter on the floor she frowned. "Oh no, I've made you sick. I'm so sorry sweetheart."

"It's not your fault. It's flu season, it happens." Emma managed to get out before another round of nausea had her heading for the toilet again.

David jumped into action quicker than his still sick wife and went to hold their daughter's hair back. He also managed to sneak the back of his hand to Emma's forehead and felt the heat there.

"Well, it looks like you ladies will be spending the day together in bed." Turning around to face his wife he directed, "You, back to bed. I'll bring the princess through once she's done." Turning back to his daughter, "And you, tell me when you're ready to go back to bed."

There was some grumbling, but his girls managed to follow his instructions quite well, and within a short amount of time they were both situated in bed and David was scrambling about downstairs.

Meanwhile, in the upstairs bedroom Snow and Emma were both tucked in under the blankets with thermometers under their tongues, at David's insistence, waiting impatiently for the man to come back upstairs to absolve them from the silence.

Moments later David came barreling up the stairs and checked their temperatures. Snow, David was pleased to discover, had dropped down to a 99.8 degrees. Still a fever, but it was much better than the 101.7 it had been yesterday. His smile faltered slightly when he checked Emma's temperature. It was a bit high, at a 102.3 and he knew he had to get some medicine into her system.

Snow held out her hand for Emma's thermometer, which David passed over. Snow's face also fell upon seeing the reading. Frowning, she placed her hand to her daughter's head to feel for herself how warm their little girl actually was.

"The Tylenol is in the bathroom. Could you please grab her two capsules and a glass of water?"

David smiled at his wife before kissing her quickly and leaving to get the requested items.

Emma rolled onto her side to face her mother and whined, "I don't feel good." And then she pouted. Yes, the little madam pouted.

Snow smiled sympathetically at her child and offered her apologies, "I'm sorry sweetheart. Why don't you try and get some sleep after you take the medicine your father is retrieving for you."

Emma merely nodded in response. David returned a minute later, with two glasses of water and medicine for both of his girls. Once satisfied that they had both swallowed their pills David tucked them in again and headed downstairs to start the cleaning so his wife wouldn't have to stress about a messy apartment while sick.

Snow started to close her eyes to get some rest when she felt her daughter staring at her. Maneuvering onto her side Snow said, "I thought you were going to try and get some rest."

"I can't sleep. My head hurts, my throat hurts, I'm queasy and the room is spinning." Emma finished her list with a jarring cough that had David running upstairs seconds later.

Snow rubbed Emma's back and looked up at her husband upon noticing him. "The cough medicine should be in the cabinet where you found the Tylenol."

David ran out of the room and took off for the bathroom to return less than a minute later. Snow helped Emma sit up in bed and had her lean her back against Snow's chest while David prepared the dosage.

"Open up kiddo," David said, bringing the medicine cup up to Emma's lips.

Emma made a face, but allowed her father to pour the medicine down her throat, before turning around and snuggling into her mother's warmth, trying to get comfortable enough to sleep.

David stayed upstairs with his girls until Emma fell asleep. Once he was certain she was sleeping he turned to his wife.

"You should get some rest too, Snow. She may be sicker at the moment, but you're still sick."

"I will Charming. I just want to watch her for a minute."

"Alright, but just make sure you get some sleep."

A few hours later it was lunchtime and David was running around like a madman downstairs. Emma had woken up on and off since she fell asleep the first time and David was beginning to realize a sick Emma was a winey Emma. And as tiring as it was, David was beginning to realize that he couldn't say no to any of her requests.

First Emma woke up and asked him to call Red about not working that day. Then she asked him to throw her baby blanket into the dryer for a few moments to get it warm so she could cuddle with it. Then she had requested a warm drink to sooth her throat, sore from coughing. Then she requested some vapor rub. Which, or course, was the one thing Snow didn't have in her mini pharmacy. So he'd had to go out and buy some. And upon returning to the apartment he'd found his wife out of bed.

"What are you doing out of bed? You're supposed to be resting. I swear, between yesterday and now this you are the worst patient ever." David exclaimed.

Snow smiled sheepishly at her husband. "I know, I know. And I'm sorry. But Emma was coughing and it's been long enough since her last dose of cough medicine. And I knew you were coming home soon, but her coughing was hurting her chest and she started crying and I wanted to be able to do something to make it stop. So I figured I'd get her some more medicine, but it was down here. So, here I am."

David found he couldn't be upset with his wife. She was simply trying to take care of her child. "Alright, you get a free pass this time. But get back in bed before I take you there myself."

"Is that a promise, dear?" Snow questioned, a smirk on her face.

"Yes, now go." David insisted, too tired to flirt with his sick wife at the moment. "And take this." He added, giving Snow the vapor rub. "Oh, and do you think you two are up for lunch. You both haven't eaten and you should try something."

Snow smiled at her frazzled husband. He was doing such a good job taking care of the two of them, it made her fall in love with him all over again. "Yes, lunch would be a good idea. There's some left over soup from the other night in the fridge, if you wouldn't mind heating up some bowls."

"Not at all my dear. Now off to bed with you."

Snow returned upstairs with the cough medicine and the vapor rub to see Emma sitting up in bed, rubbing her chest in tears.

"Oh sweetie, please don't cry. Dad just came home with your chest rub and I have another round of cough medicine for you. You'll feel better soon."

Snow gave her daughter the medicine while she opened the chest rub. "Move your shirt down a bit honey, I'll rub this in and you'll feel better."

Emma complied and allowed her mother to sooth her chest with the vapor rub. The soothing rubbing motion and the smell of the rub calmed her down considerably. "Thanks, that feels a lot better." Emma admitted.

"I'm very glad to hear that. Your father is heating some soup up for us. I know you're not feeling well, but you should really try and eat something."

Emma nodded her head in agreement. However, an hour later Emma regretted that decision. David had just come upstairs to clear their dishes away when he saw Emma's face change. He hurried over to her and was about to take her to the bathroom when Emma got sick all over him and the bed and promptly burst into tears. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I'm sorry." She wailed.

David quickly tried to do some damage control, "Hey, hey it's okay. I'm not upset, it was an accident. You're sick. It's okay, let's get you cleaned up."

David half led half carried Emma to the bathroom to get cleaned up while Snow started on the bed. She quickly stripped the sheets and was about to take them downstairs to put in the wash when David came back into the room.

"Hey, don't worry about the mess. I'll clean it up. Emma's in the bath right now, soaking. Do you think you could get some fresh clothes for her and then get her situated in our room downstairs?"

Snow eyed David for a minute, unsure if she could trust him with yet another set of bed sheets.

Seeing the look in Snow's eyes David was quick to defend himself, "And I promise to not dye the sheets this time. Emma told me to wash them on the cold setting so the colors don't run and stain the whites if I'm going to be too lazy to do separate loads."

"Alright, go ahead."

David finished stripping the bed and cleaned up some of the others areas Snow missed while Snow gathered some new clothes for her daughter and headed for the bathroom.

David spent the rest of the night trying to do the cleaning that he never really got to this morning with all of Emma's requests. He didn't want his wife to spend her first day feeling well having to clean up after him. When he was done he sat down on the couch to watch some TV. He fell asleep at some point, exhausted and dead to the world.

When Snow and Emma woke the next morning they were both feeling better. They exited the downstairs bedroom and stopped, upon seeing David asleep on the couch. The man was sitting upright, his torso twisted at an odd angle against the arm of the couch, one foot on the floor and the other on the coffee table, and his head was tilted back.

Emma had to stifle a laugh, careful not to wake her exhausted father while Snow smiled affectionately at her husband.

This wonderful man had been running around for the past two days doing the Mr. Mom thing so she wouldn't have to worry about their household falling apart during her illness. And he had done such a wonderful job taking care of her and Emma and the apartment.

Snow moved to the couch and managed to twist David's body around so that he was at least lying on the couch without waking him and then covered him in a throw from the back of the couch.

"Poor dad," Emma started, "he's been running around for the past two days like a lunatic trying to take care of us."

"Yes, he's pretty wonderful." Snow added.

Looking around she noticed that the apartment was indeed spotless. That was when she noticed the light on the washing machine. David must have started the wash but forgot to transfer it all over to the dryer.

Snow walked over to the washing machine and opened the door, removing the previously soiled bed sheets and groaned, gaining her daughter's attention.

Emma laughed loudly before remembering to be quiet. "I guess dad is pretty determined to have only pink sheets in this house."

"I suppose so." Snow agreed.

"Eh, he can't be perfect," Emma defended her father.

Snow smiled at her daughter before turning her gaze back to her husband, "I don't know my darling. He seems pretty perfect to me."


End file.
